New York Mets: 3 potential Buck Showalter replacements as manager

It has not been the season that the New York Mets had hoped for. Despite the 2023 campaign just reaching the halfway point, the outlook for them is grim in regard to the standings.

Frustration reached its boiling point with the fanbase over the weekend against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets dropped two out of three on the road and, on Sunday, it was the way that they lost. They allowed four runs in the eighth inning on just one hit, a hit that did not produce a run, and allowed 10 batters to come to the plate. They scored one run on an infield error, the New York walked in three runs in the 7-6 loss.

Manager Buck Showalter has come under criticism recently and that criticism got bigger after his bullpen decisions in the eighth inning. At 35-42, New York is 15.0 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East and 8.0 games back in the wild card. Recently, team owner Steve Cohen said he was not going to “blow up” over his team’s terrible start, but that thinking may have changed.

“When things get really bad, I’m not going to blow up,” Cohen said. “I don’t think that’s the proper response. I don’t think it solves anything, other than it gives people a one-day story. But it doesn’t really solve anything. There’s plenty of blame to go around from a performance point of view. So blowing up, I’m not sure it solves anything. It would demonstrate, ‘Oh, he really cares. He’s one of us.’ But the reality is it’s not going to solve our problems. And I think in some ways it can be demotivating.”

Desperate times call for desperate measures and the time might come to make a move and the logical one would be to move on from Showalter. If they do, here are three possible replacements that could handle the New York media and fanbase.

Mets potential manager candidate: Joe Girardi

If there is someone who can handle the pressure of the big city, it’s Joe Girardi. He spent 10 years as a manager across the city for the New York Yankees. He lead them to their last World Series championship in 2009 against the Phillies and they went 103-59 in the regular season.

He took the Bombers to the playoffs in six of his 10 seasons there, going 28-24 in the postseason. He has 15 years of experience as a manager after stops with the Florida Marlins in 2006 and three seasons with Philadelphia, where he last managed and was fired in 2022.

A former catcher, Girardi is someone who can handle the market of New York and he has experience managing teams with high expectations and big payrolls. The Mets have the league’s highest payroll at nearly $380 million, with a $110 million luxury-tax payment. That’s a lot of money for an underachieving team.

It’s not easy managing in New York, just ask Showalter, who also managed the Yankees earlier in his career. This Mets team is built for the regular season and postseason, but they have not been able to put together a consistent streak. Girardi is someone who could come in and command respect in the locker room.

Mets potential manager candidate: Mike Shildt

When Mike Shildt was let go by the St. Louis Cardinals, it was a surprise around MLB. The 54-year-old had success with the Redbirds, posting a .559 winning percentage in four seasons and three of those seasons ended with playoff appearances.

His teams never finished below third place in the National League Central and twice won 90-plus games. He went 30-28 in the COVID shortened 2020 season, which was good enough for a second-place finish and a Wild Card berth against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was named 2019 Manager of the Year leading the Cardinals to a 91-71 season and first-place finish.

St. Louis is not an easy city to manage in. There is a lot of pressure on the manager as there is in New York, so the bright lights would not be too big for Shildt. He has plenty of experience in the National League, he has managed teams with high expectations and thrived. Sliding into the spotlight with the Mets would not be an issue.

There is no doubt that change is going to come with the Mets and Cohen has to have had a change of heart since his comments two weeks ago. Showalter has been around the game long enough to know that this comes with the territory, not meeting expectations comes with its repercussions. Usually, it’s not the players that take the fall, it’s the manager. I’m not calling for Showalter to lose his job, however, decisions have to be made and the Mets are an underachieving team that could use a change.